Mass Effect After: Price of A Paragon
by RequiescaInpache
Summary: A properly motivated-to-write Sequel and alternate ending of Mass Effect 3, including Clyde Shepard, the best damn Shepard around! Join the rebuild of the Universe after the Reaper War, and look at the scars it leaves.
1. Commander Fantastic

**IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THROUGH FIRE AND FLAME, I ADVISE READING SOME OF IT NOW. JUST FOR SOME LAUGHS. AND TO SEE THIS SHEPARD. THIS GUY MIGHT CONFUSE YOU IF YOU DON'T.**

Ehem.

_**I'm Clyde Shepard, and this is my favorite fan fiction ever.**_

Ello' Lovelies. I just finished ME3. I despise the ending. Hate it so much. So, we are going to pretend that.. well, isn't the ending! Or, well. Sort of. It's going to be very altered.

If you don't want to be spoiled, look away now.

… Right now.

It's a variant of the control ending. Minus Shepard turning into goo. Shepard instead controls the reapers and throws them into a sun. So. Y'know. Shepard isn't dead.

The Mass Relays are rather borked, but not completely destroyed.

Now, before complaining. I know, it's all.. incredibly convenient. I kind of have to do it like this. The ending to Mass Effect 3 is so, so underwhelming in my opinion, and I can't really do much with it unless I want to write about how dead Shepard is. Or how much of a crispy husk he is. So, yeah. It is pretty terribly convenient. But, hey. I'm sure you wouldn't be still reading this if you weren't interested. So, on with the show, shall we?

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: Commander Fantastic<strong>_

'Told you so.'

The only words that rang in his head all throughout the Reaper War. He really didn't like being that guy. Everyone knows 'that guy'. The guy that's too loud at parties, always shouting whenever his sports team wins a game, no matter the margin. The guy that will always be the first one to point his finger at you when you do something wrong, and proceed to laugh like he has never laughed before. Like you had just turned a vorcha into a circus balloon and blown him so full of hot-air he floated to the atmosphere. Yeah, being that guy was not fun at all. So he didn't say it out-loud, really. The thought of being that guy was awful. God damn, his brain never heard the end of it though. It's funny, really. It was _**almost **_like he had seen this war coming. It's a shame nobody stood up and yelled Reapers over and over again. That would have been too convenient.

No crying over spilled milk, though. Least not milk this spilled. Sour milk, too. Nobody likes sour milk.

"We need word on sector 9. How many casualties? Damn. That's more than I'd like, but it'll have to do. Look, we have Commander Shepard here. We need word on the Normandy. Can you pinpoint where it fell?"

By now I'm sure everyones wondering what happened. Mid-war, the Reapers just.. glow blue and take off into the sunset? Literally? Didn't make sense to anyone. Barely made sense to him. Maybe he was on some really, really big pain-high. Is that possible? A Pain-High? So fucked up you actually got stoned from it? It's about as possible as whatever his eyes had seen. Or.. what they thought they saw. Anyway, that wasn't the point. Point is, everyone wants to know how the great Commander Shepard did it again, don't they? And where Anderson was, of course. He knew the answer to both. The latter much, much more simple. The first being.. a bit more complicated. Too complicated. He didn't really want to talk about it. He didn't want to talk about anything. He just wanted to.. to go home, really. Not Earth. Fuck Earth. Normandy. He wanted to hug Tali. Wanted his cute, quarian, three fingered alien girlfriend. And he wanted Garrus to be in the background making fun of him for having said girlfriend. Whatever. Fuck Garrus.

Shepard let out a chuckle, quickly followed by a wince of pain.

"Yes. Shepard. Hey- Hey! I really doubt Shepard is interested in talking to the council right now. Don't they need to worry about fixing the, I don't know, **galactic wide destruction? **Just get back to finding the fucking Normandy."

You tell em, sir.

Now, where were we? Oh yes. Reapers. God knows how he lived through that one. It was_ supposed_ to take his life. And.. well, it didn't. It did leave him thoroughly fucked up, however. He didn't remember much after that. Just.. lots of pain. And cheering. He definitely could hear cheering. Speaking of which, shouldn't he feel a lot happier about this? He defeated the fucking reapers. It's over. Had it not sunk in yet? Whatever the case, he felt like he should be celebrating.

Didn't Chakwas promise him a drink of something? Brandy, was it? Damn it. He could really use a drink. Or a nap. A nice, long, hard nap.

Maybe 8.

Possibly 10.

How long would it take for them to fix all the Reapers brought? Years? Hundreds of them? Fuck. What happened to the citadel when it became the giant 'Fuck You' to the Reapers? Could they even use it? Or is it the crucible for life now? Destroying the Reapers was supposed to make the questions stop. And now.. he was left asking himself the same things he did before. Like, the point of all this. He controlled the Reapers. Sent them into oblivion. And.. well. That should have been it, but.. he isn't controlling them anymore. If what the catalyst said was true, wouldn't synthetic life still destroy organic life? The solution isn't a solution. It was a band-aid. Yet.. if he did control the Reapers, that wouldn't be anything either, would it? Except he wouldn't be here right now.

Speaking of which. Where exactly.. is here?

Shepard stood up. Much too fast for his damaged brain to handle, staggering to almost as soon as he got up, crashing into nearby equipment, falling with zero grace to the hard, hard ground.

"Commander Clyde Shepard, dropping by!" He yelled out in a haze of dizziness. "Don't know who's god damn idea it was.. to.. to fuckin.. shit, my head hurts."

"Shepard?"

He looked up from his pile of shit he was laying in to look at.. well, he couldn't really tell. Nobody he recognized, that's for sure. He was an old man. Grey. Kind of.. looking like a white Anderson. He slowly made his way to his feet, clutching the side of his head in a desperate plea for it to stop pulsing.

"Yeah, that's me. So.. sorry sir, I barely have a fucking clue what is going on here. Can you fill me in? Please? Pretty please? Don't make me put the cherry ontop."

The old man looked like he was about to slap Shepard. And then possibly laugh. Definitely slap though. This guy was new to being around him, clearly. He tried to stand up, but pain in the.. well, everything, prevented him from straightening all the way out. He settled on a hunched position, looking up at the far-too-serious face of the elderly military man.

"We found you. On Earth. We.. don't really know how you got there, per say, but you were talking about the Normandy. And your crew. I thought you were in your mind, so we've been tracing the Normandy's signal ever since we picked you up."

"Ah, I see.. well.. don't let me stop you then. I'm gonna.. sit then. Sit. Yeah. Can I sleep? Please?" Shepard pleaded with a lousy attempt at a laugh that caused his head to lurch in agony.

"Well, we'd like some.. answers, Shepard. Like.. Captain Anderson. And what exactly happened."

Ahh. Anderson. He let out a sad look, wiping his hand across his forehead. He really didn't want to talk about anything. Didn't he just save this entire galaxy? And he didn't even deserve a nap? Jesus. The shit he does, and a man can't even get some peace and quiet. Thoughts of Anderson smashed his head like a wave. The grief of seeing his friend die next to him before he could see the Reapers turn into piles of smoke started to set in. This wasn't the time to be grief-sticken, though. These people wanted answers. Lots of them. He slowly started to sit down and lean back against the wall, his tired eyes gleaming up at the military man.

"Andersons gone." He said sadly. "Killed in action."

The room went deathly quiet. Almost the instant he said it. If this was any other situation, he could swear they did this to him on purpose to make this exchange of information as awkward as organically possible. He really doubted it, though. Anderson was a big name, and probably a good reason why any of these people were even alive at this moment.

"I.. I see." He said quickly, trying to hide the sadness welling behind his eyes. "Well, about what happened to the Reapers—"

"That is going to have to wait. " He said waving his hand. "Far, far too long to explain. And far, far too much pain in my brain to fathom it all,"

"But, Commander—"

"It's not something that can be perfectly explained. Just.. let it go."

Not satisfied with the answer he had gotten, it looked like he was going to protest again, but the rest of the crew shot him some dirty looks. He turned silent, gave a strong nod, and walked away. Maybe he did have some sort of sense inside him. He silently thanked all the people in his vicinity thankful enough to shoot the man a cross look. It didn't look like he was going to get to sleep, however. The ship was returning to being noisy. He groaned, slowly standing up again, before looking around at the crew. He wasn't the only injured they had picked up, it seemed. Lots of people were bandaged. Broken. Even boarder-line dead. Something he saw this time, though.. compared to all the times he saw people in the med-bay on the Citadel.

Smiling.

People were smiling.

And finally, everything seemed to settle in to him, He leaned against the wall and a smile of his own graced his face. He fought the urge to start laughing. The overwhelming amount of good feelings he felt was almost enough to drive his pained legs into jumping. Not quite there, however. He closed his eyes, letting the joy flow into him like a really cool glass of water after weeks in the desert. He ran his fingers through his hair, as though to make sure everything was still here. He almost wanted to go around and make sure this wasn't just an alternate universe that he had died and went to. That might lead him into a psych-ward though. So, he would settle for this.

How much did they need to fix? How much was needed to repair after all this? How many casualties did they suffer, and was it worth it? He didn't know the answers. The council, god help them, were going to flay him alive with their.. _words. _He didn't want to be a part of the politics of all this. He needed to find Garrus. And go get a really, really big drink. Speaking of which, didn't they say they were tracking the Normandy?

He picked himself off the wall, slowly limping towards the person who looked like he had the most authority.

"Hey. You. With the.. brown hair and the stupid looking mustache."

"Wha-What? Who—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look. Where is this ship headed?" Shepard asked.

"W-Well. I belive it's a planet called Se'Los. Remote planet. Not much contact with life, really. We're tracing the Normandy to check for survivor's. Looks like it crashed there after the Crucible went off. Now, my mustache—"

"The Normandy crashed?" Shepard asked with a tone of desperation.

Obviously eager to get back to the point about his mustache, he looked like he might not answer, but he let out an irritated sigh. He looked a bit stressed.

"Yeah. The signals strong, so the ships working. This ship was schedueled to go over the Destiny Ascencion and receive orders, but it looks like the Captain doesn't feel like not giving the savior of the galaxy what he wants. Now—"

"ETA?"

"Not long, we should almost be there. If you would—"

"Fantastic, Mr Mustache. Don't worry what the ladies say, I'm sure your boyfriend absolutely loves it."

"Wha—"

Blocking out the yelling retorts from the official, he slowly hobbled his way back over towards his wall. So. The Normandy crashed. Survivor's were a maybe. That didn't sit right. The galaxy was saved, sure.. but, his friends. His loved ones. What became of them? Please, let it be good.

He didn't want to live in the new world alone.

* * *

><p>'Remote' would have been a polite way of saying it, if it was some kind of insult.<p>

They had trouble finding a landing position through the thick forest. They had floated above the planet for what felt like forever until they had finally dropped down. They were eager to find the Normandy. Probably to get all the sick and injured people on the ship to a proper medical place to get them all patched up. He didn't want to keep them waiting. They insisted Shepard stay in bed, but that wasn't going to happen. This was his ship, after-all. And his friends, and his crew. Like hell was he going to sit here because of a few bruises. So, he slowly.. well, very slowly, got off the ship and hobbled away through the brush. So, maybe the doctors had a point. Marching through the forest to look after a ship.. probably not the best idea.

He had the Normandys coordinates on his omni-tool, however. He had stripped off all of his armor, too. Which, since this place was.. largely an unknown, also a pretty terrible idea. Bad ideas were just rushing to him now adays.

He finally got a chance to think outside the noise, though. He had done it. Commander Shepard, no longer just Savior of the Citadel and Destroyer of the collectors. Now he was the savior of the.. galaxy. Everything. All organic life. And to think, someone on the streets on earth said he'd never amount to anything. A lot of people told him that, actually, back in the streets. They were right. Just.. y'know. Saving worlds. Galaxies, even. Childs-shit, really.

He looked on his Omni-Tool. He was close.

So, what the hell now? The galaxy wasn't going to stay peaceful. The Krogan were going to breed like damn hamsters. The Quarians and the Geth were.. sharing Rannoch. And who knows what the Rachni were going to do now. And all the mercs he had Aria get him. This.. that. Shit. And fuck, The Mass Relays. They still obviously worked, but the catalyst kid said they weren't going to. Does that mean.. all of them? Or maybe if they went into a Relay they were gonna get turned into smoke. That sounds about as pleasant.

Speaking of Pleasant.

The Normandy. In its.. not so greatest moment. It was crashed. Fucked up, to put it bluntly. And beside the wreckage, he could make out some silhouettes. Familiar ones, too. He slowly kneeled down. He was being a bit childish, now. Sure, he should probably tell them all they were going to get out, obviously, but what fun would that be? The Reapers are gone. No random lasers to snipe him now. Time to fuck around with every sore and painful nerve in his body.

"So.. He did it." Joker said with a bit of a sigh.

"Yeah. Yeah, he did." Garrus said.

"What a hell of a ride," Joker said with a bit of a wince. "Damn, think I broke something."

"I'm a bit surprised. I thought your entire skeleton was supposed to fracture on an impact like that,"

"Yeah, Me too. Looks like just my legs though. And my hip. Maybe a rib too. Okay, a lots broken. "

They didn't say anything for a bit after that. The silence made him want to scream.

"Wonder how the bars in heaven serve there drinks," Garrus said up to the sky.

"Despite everything.. Despite everything he did, and everything he accomplished, I'm still pretty sad he's gone, y'know? I'm sure everyone's going to think it was worth it. One man for the entire galaxy, but.. I still feel like it's not a total win. Like.. we lost the fight, but won the war."

Tali, who had said nothing to this, turned around to look at Joker a bit. It looked like she was going to say something, but decided against it. She was sitting a ways from the other two, staring over the field of forest like it wasn't really there, but she was admiring it anyway.

"Shepard would have wanted this," Tali said. "I'm sure he would have wanted it like this."

"Yeah.. He was always a bit of a showoff." Garrus replied.

"Here here." Joker said toasting a fake cup.

Tali even let out a sad chuckle. "Just a bit of a showoff?"

"Well, I was being polite. Shepard did say he would be watching me if I lived and he didn't. I can't talk too much about him. Who knows what he'd might do."

"I'm pretty sure heavens gonna send him back, truthfully." Joker grinned. "I mean, really. You don't just 'get used' to Shepard."

"No, No you don't." Tali said with more of a happy chuckle this time around. She unconsciously brought her hand to her visor, looking like she wanted to brush tears away, but forgot about the material in the way.

"What happens now?" She said questioningly.

"Rebuild, I guess." Garrus said. "We have to undo what the Reapers did. No civilization has ever made it this far, remember. I guess it's time somebody finally moves forward."

"I'm gonna go make sure everyone knows Shepards name, if they didn't already. I want his name in the history books. Everyone should know why they are still here."

"If everyone doesn't know already, I'd be pretty surprised. I don't even think he needed to destroy the Reapers for everyone to know about him. You don't forget white-hair very often." Garrus replied. "To Shepard!"

"To Shepard," Joker said.

"To Shepard.." Tali said with the return of sadness.

He had to fight the urge to cry. He had to remember something disgusting. Like Varren. Or vorcha. Or both. He was too incredibly touched. And if he greeted them with tears in his eyes, Garrus would never live it down. He slowly stood up, grinning ear to ear, before hollering.

"**Tali, for the love of god, didn't I tell you to stop calling me Shepard?" **He yelled.

All of them whirled around to see the grinning Shepard slowly move towards them. Joker, who was already in considerable amounts of pain, had to try and crawl on his elbows to get a better view. Garrus, who was standing, did a double take. And then a triple take, as though he had seen a ghost come out of the trees. And Tali..

Tali..

"Say it with me now. Clyde. C-L-Y-OW!"

Hell hath no fury like a Quarian scared. She had ran over. And instead of hugging, or kissing, or anything lovers are supposed to do, she was hitting him. Lots. Fiercy. Slap up-on slap rained on his shoulders. His head. And his back. It didn't stop when he used his arms to shield his sore face, but his sore arms weren't appreciative of this treatment. Slap up-on slap hailed on him like a storm. Garrus spluttering out whats and hows like some sort of baby, Joker hollering things he couldn't hear over the resounding sound of suit on skin.

"Stupid, _idiot, __**moronic, **_overly dramatic, stupid, foolish, show-offy _**BOSH'TET!"**_

"Ow, Hey, Ow! Wh-Why! Y'-Y'know I'm in a lot of pain here—OW!"

"Pain? You want to know about _**pain? **_How about spilling your heart out because you think your idiot boyfriend is dead while he sits there and listens to you! How about watching an explosion come from the place you think your **idiot **boyfriend is nearly kill you!"

"Ow, OW! Come on, I was—h-HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU SLAP!"

"Like I care you idiot! You honestly think I can cry, I can cry so damn much and then have you come here and waltz back in like you did?"

"W-Well I was just so-Ow, Come on! How was I supposed to interrupt that!"

Joker and Garrus seemed content to watch the onslaught continue. Garrus had run over, helping a laughing joker to his feet, amused at his expense. Even Garrus joined in on the laughter, now that the shock wore off. Shepard. Alive. He had done it again. Somehow, someway. He just keeps doing it.

"Can you—Stop hitting me, lord in god!" Shepard pleaded. Just as Tali went over for another smack, Shepard charged over, wrapping his arms around the small Quarian girl, who still was not satisfied, wriggling desperately to free her arms. To hug back, or to continue inflicting punishment, he was unsure. Better safe than sorry.

"You idiot! Do you have any, _**ANY **_idea—"

"Yes, I do. If it's even half of what I felt.."

"And you didn't even come back right away! I was so worried you idiot!"

"I know."

"No, you don't! And I can't even wipe all the tears because of this stupid mask, and I'm crying because it's your stupid fault, and—"

"I know."

"Stop saying that you idiot!"

"Did I ever tell you how cute you are when you are angry?"

"_**Flattery will earn you death!"**_

Shepard laughed. Heartily. And it didn't stop, either. He had let go of her, who promptly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him like he was about to fade off in the distance. He fell backwards, his sore body not ready for this amount of weight being thrown on it. He crashed the grass, a loud 'Oof' leaving his body. Garrus, holding up Joker, still laughed at his expensive. And all the noise had attracted the rest of the ship searching for the Normandy. They had come up-on an amusing sight. Shepard. Collapsed on the grass with a Quarian girl fighting between the urge to hit him and hug him, with a Turian and a Human overseeing it and laughing.

They don't call him Commander for nothing.

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><p>I hope you all enjoyed that. If this response is good, I'll probably continue it. This is my first shot at getting back into writing, so bare with the obvious typo's here. I tried editing it, but my lord, I am terrible at it. Anywho.<p>

Yes. I am that dissatisfied with the ending of ME3 that I started writing this. Takes a lot to get me so motivated. And yes. There was spoilers. If you read this and didn't expect spoilers, you are a silly, silly person.

Love ya faces. PM Me, and all, review, whatnot!


	2. Birthmarks and Scars

**What.**

How the hell? First chapter and that many reviews and hits? What? How did this get so much attention and get so liked? Wow. I.. don't really know what to say. I know you guys just made me get a hell of a lot more motivated. Thank you. Now!

To answer something, yeah. I got the ending where Shepard lives in the third game. I don't consider that him living. The mass relays are gone, he is all sorts of messed up, and god knows where he is and what he's going to do after that. Basically, the entire universe you worked to save is gone from your sights. Even if you live, for all intents and purposes, everything is gone.

And. It. Is. Terrible.

So! Let's continue, then. Clyde Shepard. The best damn Shepard around. Sarcastic, arrogant and god damn awesome. This chapter is.. more of a re-introduction of Clyde Shepard. I kind of want to get across what kind of guy he is, and just a bit of change that came from my original story. So, here we go then, shall we?

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2: Birthmarks and Scars<strong>_

SSV – Sidious.

It was a quiet ship, most of the time. During the Reaper War, the ship wasn't in the front-lines. Not even the back-lines. Not in any line. The SSV – Sidious was a ship made for finding survivors. It was, in all point, a flying hospital. It was lightly armed with only a few military men on board at all times in-case of ambushes. Not much in terms of heavy weapons or biotic support, but it was enough to keep the ship safe in most scenarios. They didn't have many men, but the ones they did have were rough and hardened. Veterans that made sure everyone knew they had been through and how they did it. And the doctors were top of the line, of course. The crew was friendly, too. No drama between the crew ever surfaced, and even then, it was promptly stuffed out. After all, there wasn't really any time for that. This ship was one of the rare ones who realized that a someone's personal dilemmas in the middle of the Reapers attempting genocide wasn't the best thing. So, that was how it was. And, after the war ended, the atmosphere, while getting more crowded, got great. Everyones spirits were up as high as they could go. They had done something that nobody had ever done since the history of time had done. Of course they were on top of the world.

The SSV – Sidious wasn't exactly a big ship. It was smaller than the Normandy. The captains quarters didn't really exist. The captain just slept with the rest of the crew, like he was one of them. See, even the captain of the ship wasn't a douche.

So, now, someone might ask; A ship like that sounds perfect. What could ruin a ship like that? What could possibly spark some drama on a ship that had a nice crew, lack of military ego with mostly just healing survivors? Well. It's simple really. Sometimes, people get on the ship and don't really like medicine. Maybe they are too proud to accept it. Maybe they are afraid of more pain. Sometimes, trauma comes into play. People aren't exactly accepting after they have seen what some of these people had seen. Entire planets being wiped out in a giant inferno isn't exactly good for the mental condition. Family members being turned into piles of blood from the Reaper ground forces. Yeah. Sometimes, these people had a pretty good excuse to not exactly finding anything very comfortable, no matter what the situation of the ship was. Just something you got used to around the Sidious. Luckily, as was mentioned, the doctors were high-class. The Alliance went all out with providing med-support for this ship.

However. Sometimes, mental problems might exist, but not the kind anyone is thinking of. No, sometimes, people just are entitled to be treated better than everyone else. Sometimes they think we are secretly triyng to poison them. Why? Who knows. Those people don't ever mention the Reapers. And the best ones are the ones that just simply don't like the taste of medicine. It's hard trying to tell a veteran of war to drink something, or to take a needle he doesn't want.

It's especially tough when that guy had just saved the galaxy.

"No, no. **NO**! Come near me with that needle. I swear to god, so help me, **lord have mercy on you **if you come near me with that needle. I will make you see the inside of your damn face." He spat.

Commander Shepard. The man who ruined the peace of the SSV – Sidious.

"Commander, please, lay back down. It's just some antibiotics. Nothing more. You—"

"I know **what **it is. I don't like the damn **form **you have it in. Don—OI!" He had interrupted the nurse by brandishing his hand as though it was a sword in the direction of the needle. "If you touch me with that thing, I swear—"

"Yes, yes. Inside of the face." The nurse said, annoyed with this turn of events. "We don't have any more pills for this kind of infection, commander. This is the only option."

This had been going on for the last half an hour when they told him that he had an infection from one of the several wounds he had on his body. It was a damn medical mystery how this man had survived all he had. He came in to the ship as beat up as one person could get and refused all treatment, or at least pretended to ignore all words, until he saw the Normandy again. After that, he was cleaned up, bandaged, the works. And now.. apparently, a needle was the cause of this ruckus. Facing down a Reaper, one thing. Needles a completely different sort. How did this guy get any sort of shot if he was scared enough to start throwing biotics around because of one needle?

Either way, a few people had come to check out the situation. Even some of the other patients were curious what all the noise was about. Of course, Shepard was oblivious to this. He was only concentrated on the small needle of chaos and destruction in the nurses hands.

"Please let us give you the shot." The nurse said flatly.

"No." He said almost instantaneously.

"I'm sure this isn't going to be your first shot, Commander. This isn't going to hurt."

"Not the point."

"What do you mean 'Not the point'? What else could it be?"

"I've taken a lot of pain in my time, ma'am." Shepard said almost in a confused way. "That's not the problem here."

"Then _**what is?**_"

"I don't know! I just don't like fucking needles! How are there no more pills for a god damn infection? Is that even medically allowed?" Shepard spluttered out in one of his own revelations. More akin to him trying to rationalize anything that avoided the needle that was being waved in-front of him. The nurse looked about ready to try and dive over and forcibly ram this thing into his arm. He was ready though. He had leaped out of the bed they had given him and pushed his back against the wall, glaring through his hair at what was becoming an army of med-staff coming to administer a shot.

"Isn't this a bit too much trouble for one guy refusing a needle?" He asked with a bit of a coy laugh. "I mean, I know I can be such a damn charmer, but this is a bit too much attention. Autographs will be handled by my secretary."

"You don't _**have **_a secretary, Commander. Now, please—"

"That's the point. I don't have a secretary. What travesty is this? How does a guy save the galaxy and not get even one person to change my socks when I wake up? Bullshit, I tell you." He agreed with mock-scorn and a nod. "You want to be my secretary?"

"**No."**

"That's a shame. I think you'd be great at it. We could play 'Dominatrix, The Asari Slave 3'. Fun game. Wait, scratch that. Joker showed me that once. Funny guy, Joker—"

"**SHEPARD! **What in.. What is going on here? Stop—Let me through. Keelah, why are so many people—Shepard! What did you do?"

Just in time!

Emerging from the crowd was a Quarian. A very specific Quarian. The one he, just a few hours ago, was punished by severely for being a bit too.. impolite towards. Who knew something with only three fingers could smack someone so damn hard. Either way, she pushed through the mix of patients and staff that were crowded around him and his bed to witness the supposed madman that he was sure didn't take long to get passed around the ship like wildfire. She had to be dealing with her own stuff though, so it even impressed him a little that word at his attempted face-crushing of the medical staff spread through the ship so fast. He couldn't help but drop his guard down a little though. He was almost about to hug her in his new found good mood of seeing his girlfriend if it wasn't for the extremely annoyed looking nurse waving the needle like a sword.

He'd prefer the sword.

"Tali! Hey chickadee. Can you believe it? I don't have a secretary!"

"W-What?" Tali said, her annoyance at the situation leaving her briefly at the sure absurdity of what he said.

"Yeah, I—Wait, no. That's not the point. This woman wants to stake me with that thing. I'm refusing." Shepard said pointing at the needle as though it were a raised gun.

Tali regained her thoughts quickly, however. She had gotten used to the sheer absurdity of Clyde Shepards insanity. How such a buffoon saved the galaxy will be a question for the next generation. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, twirling one of her fingers in a circle, which had become there signal that she was currently rolling her eyes at him.

"A shot? Well, okay. And why are you refusing this shot, Shepard?" Tali asked.

"Clyde."

"_**Shepa—**_"

"_**Clyde. **_"He said flatly. "I'm not responding unless you call me Clyde."

"This is hardly the time! In-front of the people on the ship? Aren't you worried about an image at all?"

"Not even slightly."

Tali let out a hard sigh. Even in-front of the people he had just saved, he still insisted she called him by his first name. She just silently hoped that when they were on missions he wouldn't ask her to call him that. He was still Commander Shepard to everyone, after all. Everyone had their own image of him until they met him. Most of them were disappointed, as these people were going to be, more than likely. Tali bit her lip in a desperate attempt to stop the exasperated sigh that was about to leave her.

"C-Clyde." She stammered a bit, but picked herself back up quickly. "Why are you refusing this shot?"

"Needles suck." Shepard said as though he were answering the most obvious thing in the world. "You know that. I've told you that. Hell, I'm pretty sure you've seen that."

"I've seen you be _**reluctant **_towards shots, but not cause anarchy over it," Tali said. "Just take the shot. Look at what you're causing here."

"Negative."

"Shep- Clyde, Take the shot."

"Nope."

And the stalemate happened. It looked like all hope was lost until Tali had moved beside him, completely innocently at first, but suddenly, the three fingered wrath sprung again, grabbing his ear and pulling on it until he had no choice but to crumple back on to the bed. He let out a cry mixed with laughter and pain, sitting on the bed with a thump. Ow's and please spilled from his lips, pleading with his new Quarian overlord to release the vicegrip she had on his ear.

"Need I remind you, **Commander, **I am still not very happy with that stunt you pulled a bit ago." Tali said with mock-coldness. "I don't plan on forgetting about that."

"I-Ow, ow! Sto, HEY! Didn't we hug and laugh that off?" Shepard pleaded. Tali nodded over to the nurse, who finally let out a sigh of relief and began walking over to the now-focused Shepard who was trying to rid the three fingered destruction off his ear.

"**You **laughed it off. **I **am still not satisfied." Tali said pointedly. "I can keep this up for a long time, you know."

"Why did I fall in love with the mean one?" Shepard yelled out.

"Same reason I fell in love with the stupid one." Tali said flatly. She was normally not adamant when displaying affection in-front of everyone, but that was more stating a fact to her this time. Well, if nobody knew that he had a Quarian girlfriend, they did now.

"I take offense to that!" Shepard said with a wince. "I still don't want the shot."

"Too late," The nurse said in a huff.

What?

Tali released his ear for him to look around, seeing the nurse now walking away with the antibiotic shot now empty. He looked over on his shoulder do, indeed, smell the disinfectant. He could only vaguely feel the mark of where the needle had gone in. He looked back at Tali who he assumed was wearing an extremely mixed version of annoyed and amused look underneath her visor. He felt a bit stupid now. He looked back at the nurse, the confused crowd still looking at him, then back at Tali, then leaped on his bed.

"Well! That's over."

"Seriously?"

"Don't want to talk about it!"

"I had to distract you so you could get a shot? Are you nine? Maybe even five? Or am I giving you too much credit?" Tali said amused.

"Since when were you the one who told jokes and made fun of me?" Shepard said teasingly. "I thought that was me."

"It was. I can't say it isn't fun. I see why you do it now." Tali said with a small laugh. She sat at the side of his bed, looking down at him. He was.. very odd looking now, even compared to humans. He had a long orange scar that ran down the right side of face, barely missing his eye. His normally white hair that had been changed long ago by the biotic enhancement surgery that Mordin had given him only accented the orange imprint of his cybernetics and his complete lack of facial hair. From what Tali knew, a lot of humans did grow facial hair when they got older. Was this part of the surgery too, or was Shepard actually much younger then she knew?

It would certainly explain a lot.

None the less, they shared some peaceful silence for now, content to watch over the working crew over the ship they were on. Maybe it was still sinking in. The fact that they had destroyed the Reapers was barely registering with them still. It probably would take a long time for Shepard to finally realize this his fighting days might finally be over. He might be able to finally retire now.. maybe put the gun down and just relax for a bit. Although, Maybe not. The quiet life had a high possibility of driving him crazy. He let out a sad chuckle when he remembered him telling Mordin that exact thing. Maybe he'd run some tests on a couple seashells in his honor. Like, how far he could throw them. Would that count?

"Are you okay?"

That was random. He almost felt like he was going to doze off until the slightly synthesized voice rang out. He peered one of his eyes open and looked up at her. Tali was staring down at him, with what he could only think was a bit of concern. He let out a bit of a sigh, glancing at the back of the nurse who was now administering other doctor-like-advice to the people around him. He looked up back at her with the best 'I'm fine' expression he could come up with.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" He said with curiously.

"Even that is a bit overboard for you." She said plainly, reaching one of her hands over and patting his hair. "I know Mordin and Dr Chakwas always said you hated shots, but wasn't that a bit much?"

"It's probably more like.. I dislike strangers with needles."Shepard said with a wave of his hand. "I've always been like that."

"Really, Clyde?"

"Sort-of." Shepard admitted. "Maybe it was a bit too much, no? I think it was the utter shock of learning I don't have a secretary."

"I can tell when you're lying, you know. You get increasingly more sarcastic." She said in a bit of a teasing tone, but switching back to serious quickly. He let out a bit of a deeper sigh and moved himself deeper into the bed, trying to get himself comfy for the obviously serious talk that was about to wash over.

"So, this time, be honest."Tali said. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly?" Shepard said with an obviously uncomfortable tone to his voice. "I don't think so."

"You don't know?"

"Not really," Shepard said honestly. "I mean, I just.. get the feeling I shouldn't be alive right now."

"That's a bit silly." Tali said curiously, placing one of her hands on his shoulder, beginning to start rubbing it in a slow rhythm. "If anyone deserves life, it's you. It isn't like you to dwell on serious stuff."

"True," Shepard huffed. "I don't know. I feel.. a lot more on-edge now that the adrenaline high is gone. Paranoid. I finally slept, you know."

"Without nightmares?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"You'd think so," Shepard said with another huff, running his hand through his hair. "I shouldn't be, though. Mordin was in them. Kaidan was, too. And Legion, and Thane. And my whole team on Akuze. I didn't exactly like them, but it reminded me why I can't ever fail." He moved his hands over his face, wiping it off even though he wasn't really sweating. "It feels like I'm forgetting about the people who died."

"You don't have to suffer for what the Reapers and Cerberus did, Clyde." Tali said sadly, moving her hand up through his hair. "It still doesn't explain why you threatened to punch a nurse, however."

"It's one and the same. I just.. feel a lot more on edge. Multiplied by the fact that I really, really do just hate needles. Seriously."

"Yes, I know, you really are a big baby," She teased. "It's not like you to be paranoid. Especially after such a victory. It's.. not like you. After we beat the Collectors you were practically a walking parade."

"I was, wasn't I?" Shepard said with an embarrassed laugh. "The nightmares were always with me though. Even when I was on Earth. First it was friends that I lost in the streets, then Akuze. Then Kaidan. I've just.. always had them."

"You understand you're trying to tell me you losing nightmares is a bad thing, right?" Tali said curiously. "I think your subconscious is about as stupid as the rest of you."

"Maybe." Shepard admitted. "I guess now that it's finally over, I keep expecting something else to take the Reapers place. And.. you know. I still don't feel like I should be alive. I feel like I should have died in some sort of stupid noble sacrifice to save the galaxy."

"You are traumatized by the victory of war." Tali said with a nod. "I really did fall in love with the stupid one."

"I.. guess you did." Shepard admitted. "It's temporary. I'll get used to sleeping without nightmares soon. And when the council comes to bore me with how I plan on managing all the alliances that have been set up, It'll probably sink in that the worst is finally over."

"Let's hope so. It's kind of funny. You're worrying, which is unlike you, and it's stupid, which is completely like you. I don't even think therapy could help you with this one."

"Luckily, I have something much better then therapy." Shepard said devilishly. Without a second warning, he had leaped from his bed, snatching her with playful yell. Tali yelped in a bit of surprise, followed by a rather unfamiliar giggle. He wrapped his arms around her waist, looking up at her standing figure, still trying to see inside her visor with obvious difficulty, squinting his eyes to look at the expression she was making.

"Why do you have to wear that thing?" He said with mock-sadness. "It ruins any kissing that could be attempted."

"I wouldn't let you anyway," Tali said, pushing his shoulder playfully. "Look at all the people here."

"Wouldn't bother me."

"Why do you completely lack any shame?"

"Just my Commander Shepard Swagger." He said with a laugh. "Just you wait till you I get you—"

"Would you shh!" Tali said with a badly hushed laugh, wrapping her hand around his lips to cover the words and the laughter that was now emanating from it.

The peaceful times kept going for quite a bit of time. While as embarrassed as Tali acted when showing her relationship off to the public eye, she didn't seem to fight very hard when Shepard so openly flirted with her in the middle of the med-bay. They laughed. They joked. So much so that all of Shepards worries had left his brain for the time being. He felt true peace, maybe for the first time in a really long time. No more Reapers. Shepard couldn't stop thinking about that enough. No more Reapers. The savior of the galaxy. Maybe he wasn't being as modest as he said. He did just complain about a secretary earlier. It didn't matter this time, though. Finally. Maybe, if only for a little longer, he wanted more peace. And maybe, for once, some good dreams.

And.. the party poopers.

"Commander Shepard," an officer said curtly. He was completely ignoring the fact that he had a girl sitting on his lap. "The council wants to speak with you."

"Can't it wait?"

"It's urgent, I was told."

"The Reapers are fucking dead, what more do they want from me?"

The officer shrugged, sitting and waiting for Shepard to leave Tali behind and follow him to the boredom sanctuary of the councils lectures.

"Can you not go anywhere?" He asked Tali with a bit of a laugh. "I have to go pretend to listen to what the council has to say."

This earned him another shove. "Go ahead. And try not to blow up the com-link this time?"

"I make no promises."

Shepard slowly moved off the bed, taking his time. He stretched his arms to the air, cracked his neck and then nodded towards the officer slumping his shoulders to purposely look bored, waving towards Tali who waved back, content with all the time she had to spend. He slowly made his way behind the officer, silently riding the elevator up to the bridge. It was a to-the-point walk. However, even this guy seemed to steal a glance at him every now and then. He almost wanted to make a joke about it, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't in too much of a mood. Because, it was time to play something he hates. Despised. And utterly wish he didn't have to do. The one down side about being the galaxy superhero;

**Politics.**

* * *

><p>The next chapter will have plot. And more substance. I promise.<p>

Also, please forgive any obvious typos I made. Just getting back into writing, and I don't got a beta/person to edit outside of me yet, and I am god awful at it. Work in progress. :D

Thank you all for the support you showed. Definitely kept me going whenever I saw another review chalked up. All the positive reinforcement is great for the writing drive. I hope I don't disappoint.


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